Akibia Deepens Partnership with Sun Microsystems; Pair of Unique Agreements Add Professional Services, Logistics, Education to Partnership

Business Wire, April 5, 2001

Business/Technology Editors

WESTBOROUGH, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 5, 2001

Akibia, Inc., a leader in eCRM consulting and mission-critical IT support services, today announced that it has formed a strategic partnership with Sun Microsystems, Inc. Under two unique agreements, Akibia will provide various IT support services directly to Sun customers.

"The deepening of our relationship with Sun represents a significant growth opportunity for us," said Thomas D. Willson, CEO of Akibia. "Through these partnerships, we can expand our offerings in the higher-end Unix space and move into markets that we haven't served before."

As part of a new, five-year contract, Akibia will directly provide Sun customers with support services including technical support and hardware maintenance. In this agreement, Akibia will also provide a unique level of service delivery that includes creative logistics programs, professional services, and education and training.

Under a second agreement, Akibia was named a channel sales partner in the Sun Service ManagerSM program. This allows Akibia to re-sell Sun hardware and software services directly to their customers.

"Despite the current economy, there is still a demand for IT support services," said Eric Rocco, vice president and research director for Gartner/Dataquest Analyst. "Partnerships are one way that services companies are delivering to the changing needs of organizations."

ABOUT AKIBIA

Akibia, Inc. is the leading provider of technology support services for mission-critical UNIX and NT environments. Formed in 2000 by the merging of Polaris Service and Polaris Solutions, Akibia is also a leading provider of eCRM consulting services. Headquartered in Westborough, Massachusetts with principal offices in New York, Dallas, San Francisco, London and Amsterdam, the company employs more than 450 multi-talented people worldwide. Clients include Cisco Systems, Inc., PTC, Bose Corporation and AT&T Corp. For more information, call 800-818-8070 or visit the Akibia website at www.akibia.com.